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News

Donate to Advocate

The last (but not least) page of practising certificate renewals through MyBar is the one time of year when barristers come together by donating just £30 to Advocate (the new name for the Bar Pro Bono Unit). This opportunity to donate is kindly made available to all members of the Bar by the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board, however it is an entirely independent donation to support the pro bono charity of the Bar.

The impact of barristers’ collective donations cannot be overstated; as it makes up around 40% of our total annual income. Without it, we simply would not exist. Advocate cannot and does not try to fill any gap left by Legal Aid cuts; pro bono is part of the ethos of the Bar and we support the Bar in its tremendous pro bono efforts. Can you please encourage all of your barristers to keep the £30 donation box ticked when renewing their practising certificate?

In doing so you help people like Peter and Janice, a married couple of pensioners, who were referred to Advocate to help fight a costs order and who said:

We are certain that our success was principally because of the fantastic assistance that the barrister provided. We would like to thank the Bar Pro Bono Unit for this valuable help. We feel sure that the charitable support you provide must have been a life-saver for many a drowning litigant in person! We certainly feel very grateful for all the assistance you have given us.

Peter and Janice

Last year the support of barristers meant 24% more cases received pro bono help than the previous year, and enabled us to grow our Bar Pro Bono Awards, and host our first ever London to Paris cycle. This year, donate and help us take our service online, develop our Pro Bono Champions engagement scheme across the country, better tell the stories of those helped to get access to justice and invest in a new Volunteer Manager to better support and engage volunteer barristers nationwide.